Zachary instantly frowned when he heard that.

Meanwhile, tears were already glistening in Lucine's eyes.

"Selena, please don't be upset. I'll give you the necklace. I don't want our relationship to sour because of this."

As she spoke, Lucine made as if to take off the necklace. However, she had only just touched the clasp when Zachary stopped her.

"This is my gift to you. You don't have to take it off."

He then shot an icy glare at Selena. "Lucine was lost out there for 20 years and is used to being timid, so stop throwing a tantrum. You're well aware she values family more than anything, yet you're still treating her like this. You—"

"Are you done?" Selena interrupted him. "If you are, I'm leaving. I don't have time to see you two acting all lovey-dovey."

A hint of panic instantly surfaced on Zachary's face. He hurriedly grabbed Selena's arm tightly.

"Selena, it's not like that between Lucy and me! How could you say that in public? Are you trying to falsely paint her as someone who interfered in her sister's relationship? How could she possibly withstand that accusation?"

Selena simply thought the anxious manner in which Zachary tried to explain himself was laughable.

"Did she not interfere?"

"Of course not!"

While answering, Zachary increased the force of his grip, causing Selena to gasp in pain. However, he didn't notice at all.

"You better not say such things again in public! This is the last time!"

With that, Zachary flung Selena's arm away before returning to Lucine's side, where he began gently comforting her.

He even picked out other expensive jewelry and thoughtfully put them on for her to try.

He would pay for anything that caught her fancy.

When Lucine smiled, Zachary did the same, his eyes filled with tenderness.

Selena let out a self-deprecating laugh at the sight. Just as she was about to leave, an announcement rang out in the mall, warning that the mall's roof was collapsing.

As the trio got ready to evacuate, the ceiling above them trembled as debris rained down on them.

In that critical moment when the ceiling was about to collapse on them, Lucine shoved Zachary out before yanking Selena to her side.

Zechary spun around, only to see a large chunk of debris crushing Lucine's leg. Blood trickled from the wound incessantly.

"Lucine, are you okay? How could you be so foolish? I should've been the one protecting you! Why did you push me away?"

Lucine put on a strained smile.

"I wasn't thinking. All I knew was that I didn't want you to get hurt."

Zachary's expression was filled with heartache for her. He moved the debris on her before lifting her into his arms.

"I'll take you to the hospital right away!"

As the two disappeared into the distance, Zachary completely forgot about Selena.

At that moment, Selena was nearly completely buried beneath the debris, with just some of her upper body peeking out.

She wanted to shout for help, but found that she couldn't make a sound.

The surrounding area was in chaos, so she could only rely on herself as she slowly crawled her way out from under the rubble.

Her body was covered in wounds and dust, causing intense pain to shoot through her with every movement she made.

The sharp corners of the debris sliced her skin, and the sight of her blood mixing with the rubble was gruesome.

Selena had only just dragged herself out from the rubble when she received two messages, one from Lucine and another from Zachary.

The one from Lucine was, "Selena, I won again this time."

Meanwhile, the one from Zachary read, "The mall collapsed, so I'm sending Lucine to the hospital. You should head home first."

He had overlooked her so completely that he didn't even realize she had been buried under the rubble, too.

Selena made her way to the hospital alone. When the nurse saw her injuries, she exclaimed, "Why are you so badly injured? Where's your family? Did you come alone?"

Selena nodded lightly in response. She had been afraid of pain since young, yet at that moment, not a single tear was shed.

Her tears had long since run dry.

After her injuries were tended to, Selena walked past a hospital room on her way out. When she heard familiar voices coming from inside, she couldn't help but glance inside.

Lucine was seated on the hospital bed, with Martha, Liam, and Zachary surrounding her.

Martha was busily peeling an apple, while the usually stern-faced Liam had tears in his eyes. As for Zachary, he was tightly gripping Lucine's hand, concern starkly written across his face.

A harmonious atmosphere surrounded them, and the heartwarming sight made Selena feel like an outsider.

Just as she was about to leave, the nurse making her rounds spoke up, catching the attention of the occupants of the room.

"Who are you? Are you here to visit a patient?"

Everyone in the room turned to look in the direction of the door. Upon spotting Selena, Zachary instantly let go of Lucine's hand.

Lucine's brow furrowed in response, a displeased look crossing her face, but it was gone in an instant. When she noticed the wounds on Selena, her eyes gleamed slyly.

"Selena, why didn't you come in since you're already here? Don't worry, I don't blame you."

The moment those words left her lips, not just everyone in the room, but even Selena was frozen to the spot in surprise.

Zachary frowned slightly and asked, "Lucy, what do you mean by that?"

Lucine pretended to shoot Selena a wary glance before hurriedly waving her hands. "I-It's nothing."

Liam immediately said sternly, "I'm here, so you don't need to be scared."

Pursing her lips, Lucine hesitated briefly before answering, "I took a liking to a necklace at the mall today, and Zach gifted it to me, which upset Selena. Soon after that, the mall's roof collapsed. I shoved Zach away and was originally able to escape, but Selena dragged me back…"

She trailed off at the end, but there was no need to continue speaking. The aftermath of that was evident.

Liam slammed his hand down on the table, the sheer force causing water to spill out of the glass on it.

"Selena Yane, is it that impossible for you to accept your younger sister? You're not the only daughter of the Yane family!"

Zachary jumped up from his seat and forcefully yanked Selena into the room.

The harsh movement tugged at Selena's injuries, and she bit her lip tightly at the pain.

"Selena, apologize to Lucy!"

Their gazes locked, and that was when Zachary noticed the utterly repulsed look in her eyes. It was something he had never seen in her before.

His heart skipped a beat, but he still ordered, "You've done something wrong, so it's only right that you apologize!"

Selena jerked her arm out of his grip, saying, "Why should I apologize for what I didn't do?"

Hearing that, Liam stepped forward and slapped Selena on the left cheek. The force of the blow was so powerful that Selena had to support herself with the end of the bed to remain standing.

"It seems I've been too lenient all these years and spoiled you too much that you've become this arrogant! If I had known you would turn out like this, I wouldn't have allowed you to be born back then! Why couldn't it have been you who went missing?"

Selena simply found the way Liam was treating her like his worst enemy utterly laughable.

Wiping the blood trickling from the corner of her lips, she retorted, "I wish I had been the one to go missing."

With that said, Selena left the room without looking back.

It was only then that Zachary noticed the wounds on Selena's body and the blood seeping through the bandages. The bright red was a particularly jarring sight.

He moved to chase after her, but was tugged back by Lucine grabbing his hand.

Her brow was tightly furrowed, and a pained grimace crossed her face as she said, "Zach, my leg hurts."

This one sentence successfully caused Zachary to stop in his tracks. Turning around, he continued to comfort Lucine. "Be good now. The doctor has already seen to your leg, so it'll stop hurting in a bit."

After that, he turned to gaze in the direction Selena had left, an indecipherable look in his eyes.

Selena had only just returned home when she received a message from Zachary.

"I have something to attend to tonight, so I won't be going back."

Not wanting to see such irritating words, Selena deleted the message.

After a brief calculation, she realized she didn't have much time left to get ready.

Getting to work, she placed all her clothes into her luggage. Then, she moved on to cleaning out her drawer. That was when she spotted a love letter, yellowed with age.

Zachary had written it for her years ago, when he was 20.

Selena tossed the love letter into the fire, the flames instantly devouring it until nothing but ashes remained.

Once she was done packing, Selena sent a message to her best friend, Vivian Brown.

She was leaving this place soon and didn't know when she would get to see Vivian next. Hence, she wanted to take some photos to keep as mementos.

The next day, when Selena and Vivian arrived at the studio, they happened to see the Yanes and Zachary.

The four of them were smiling happily as they made various intimate poses under the direction of the photographer.

Seeing Selena staring at them from afar, a studio employee approached her to ask, "Good day, miss. Are you here for a family photo shoot?"

In response, Selena laughed lightly. So, they were taking a family photo shoot, one without her in it.

However, she had long since stopped caring.

Once the day of her wedding arrived and the Chiton family sent someone to fetch her, she would leave this detestable place behind forever. Along with her five billion, of course.

"No, I'm here for a photo shoot with my best friend."

At that moment, Lucine spotted Selena.

"Selena, what a coincidence! It's fine if you don't want to talk to me, but how could you ignore Mom and Dad? Do you still blame me?"

Once again, Lucine's eyes reddened, as though she were about to cry.

Seeing that, Martha was instantly heartbroken. "Selena, you've been against Lucine ever since she returned to us. For the 20 years she was missing, she lacked familial love and warmth. All we want is to make it up to her."

Frowning deeply, Liam said, "Don't bother wasting your breath on her. The older she gets, the less understanding she is."

Zachary shook his head, his disappointment clear as he uttered, "Selena, you already have more than enough, so don't take things too far.

"Today was originally supposed to be a family photoshoot with you four, but I thought it wouldn't be convenient for you since you were injured. That's why I came on your behalf."

Selena was so infuriated that she wanted to laugh. She hadn't said a single word, yet everyone was criticizing her. She snapped, "So, should I be thanking you?"

Zachary's expression instantly darkened. "Selena!"

Not wanting to waste her time on such insignificant matters, Selena took Vivian's hand and headed for the innermost dressing room.

Unexpectedly, Lucine abruptly burst into tears, dashing forward to grab Selena's hand.

"Selena, please don't be mad. I won't take the family photos anymore. I won't ever do so again."

Selena pushed her away, wanting to leave, but the other three came forward to block her way.

"Selena Yane, hurry up and apologize to Lucy! Just how far are you going to push her?"

This was the first time Zachary had addressed her by her full name.

As the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, Lucine wiped away her tears and attempted to smooth things over.

"That's enough. It's all my fault that you guys are scolding Selena. Please stop blaming her. It's only normal that she doesn't like me when someone else is suddenly taking away love and attention from her. How about we all go camping this weekend to get closer to each other?"

Before Selena could respond, the other three had already nodded.

"Ah, Lucine, you're the more sensible one, after all. This settles it."

Nobody bothered asking for Selena's opinion before they happily agreed to go camping.

After that, Lucine turned to Selena with a pitiful look on her face. "Selena, you'll come, right?"